Erasmus Castle

Pretoria, South Africa, South Africa

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Erasmus Castle, also known asuis” (“The Haunted House”), is a large Victorian Art Nouveau mansion on a hill in the Pretoria suburb Erasmus Kasteel or “Die Spookh of Erasmuskloof, built for farmer Jochemus Johannes Petrus (George Dean) Erasmus around 1892–1904 and long associated with the Erasmus family’s landholdings in eastern Pretoria.

Designed by Dutch architect Frans van der Ben (with an Italian builder) and resembling a fairy‑tale castle, it became a prominent landmark near today’s N1/R21 interchange and later a declared national monument, but over time gained a strong haunted reputation, with many stories of apparitions, strange lights and unexplained noises helping to popularise its “Spookhuis” nickname.

The property is owned by the state arms company Armscor and has at times housed offices, yet years of neglect have left it in poor condition, so it is currently closed to the public while a long‑planned restoration project struggles with funding and heritage‑specialist shortages, leaving the mansion fenced off and accessible only via supervised or special‑arrangement visits when permitted.